A Mouth Full of Blood
by All This Hullabaloo
Summary: Seth can't to believe it. He doesn't have any ties to her, he doesn't even know her name. So what if she came to Forks to meet the Cullens? That doesn't have to have anything to do with him. He doesn't want her. He doesn't want this to be true. He wanted this one aspect of his life to be normal, natural. He didn't want to imprint. (Part 2 of my apparent Homewrecker Collection)
1. Looking Desire in the Eye

Seth drummed his fingers against the door of Chief Swan's cruiser, not entirely enjoying the oldies crooning from the radio, but following the beat none the less. Charlie had never been much for conversation so the tunes were better than silence or awkward ice breakers. They had just come from La Push and were driving along the main road through Forks when Charlie's radio buzzed and he agreed to help some lost tourist find their way.

"Sorry, Seth." The older man grumbled wearily as he turned the car toward his new objective. "I'll bring you out to your friend's as soon as I'm done with this."  
"No hurry, Chief, I don't mind." Seth assured him happily. They had still been a bit away from his friend's and he usually liked meeting the people who passed through Forks. Travelers had the best stories.

The two had to wind down a back road and further out of the town to get out to the wayward roamer. For a while it seemed they might not ever find them and Charlie had to call back in to the station to make sure that he was in the right place. They warned him that the woman had refused to stay in one place and might have even left already. Just as Seth was starting to notice Charlie's agitation rising, he spotted a little, blue and white VW bug parked on the shoulder and Charlie pulled up behind it.

The chief told Seth to stay put in the car and the teen dolefully obeyed. He watched out the windshield as Charlie approached the other car and found it abandoned. The older man threw a glance into the trees on both sides of the road before he noticed a figure trotting toward him from a ways up the street. Seth chuckled at the sight of the girl; a heap of windblown, blonde hair flying around her, a pink flip-flop on her left foot and its mud sodden mate hanging from the fingers of one hand, and a too big map held up over her eyes in place of a visor. He didn't understand what she was shielding herself from, Forks was as cloudy as ever.

As she came closer she lifted her eyeshade and gave Charlie a thankful grin. Seth didn't understand this, either.

One look at the girl's face and Seth felt something he had never imagined a person ever could feel. Something inside him shifted and seemed to transfix to her. She was a thief, she had broken in past the walls of his skin and vault of his bones and she stole away some portion of his very soul. It didn't matter who she was, what her name was, where she'd come from, what sort of life she lived, because none of that ever mattered about a rogue. All that mattered was what she had taken and what she would do with it. Now, she possessed him. Now, his will and all his life were in her hands.

Seth was roused by Charlie's knuckles rapping lightly on the car frame as he slipped back into the driver's seat. "Alright, turns out she was looking for the Cullens' place. We're going to lead her over there and _then_ I'll drop you off." He told the boy, a soft note of exhaustion seeping in to his voice at the end. It was still so early in the day.  
"Oh…" Seth tried to recollect his thoughts or at the very least pry his eyes from the silhouetted girl inside the bug. _What just happened?_ Of course a part him knew, but it seemed ridiculous. This was just some girl he happened to run into. If he hadn't asked Charlie to give him a ride, if he hadn't agreed to come out to Forks, if she hadn't gotten lost…how could some random girl be his imprint? He didn't want to accept it. He didn't want to acknowledge her as having anything to do with him.

But what had Charlie said? The Cullens. She was looking for the Cullens. For Carlisle and Esme…and Edward and Bella and Nessie… for a good noose to fit around his neck. "Did, uhm, did she say what she wanted?"  
"Nope. Just said she was here to see Carlisle and couldn't figure out where his house was." Charlie replied.

They drove in silence and Seth's mind twisted itself into a knot around the frozen image of that smile. He couldn't even manage any coherence, only her face. Only that mess of golden hair. Only those eyes, so dark in the forest gloom. Only the relief that stretched across all the surfaces of her appearance, but didn't seem to sink any further. His mind circled her, stalked her, built a perfect globe around the image of her – seared into his mind – to protect and preserve her, there, where he could keep her.

As the cruiser slinked out from the tunnel of trees and into the clearing around the Cullen house, Seth knew he would be expected to get out and say some hellos, but he didn't know if he had it in him to stand within the same space as the girl. He worried his legs might give out. He worried his brain might overheat. Most of all, he worried he might kneel before her and profess his undying love to her.  
That isn't the kind of thing you do with a girl you just met and it would be damn hard to explain.

Esme and Bella came out to greet them, waving as Charlie parked and climbed out of the car once more. He raised a questioning brow at Seth when he noticed that the boy didn't reach for his seatbelt, but instead sat stone still, his elbow perched on the door and his hand supporting his increasingly heavy head. As the older man hugged his daughter and then her mother-in-law, Seth watched from the passenger seat. He watched Bella point to him and heard her ask Charlie why he wasn't getting out. Charlie tried to brush it off that the boy had gotten a headache and Bella accepted it easily enough.

Then the two vampire women asked about the girl. Seth listened intently to the sound of her door opening and her feet padding on the grass. He wondered if she had taken off her other shoe. Refusing to look over, he could only spy her through his peripheral vision and see her step cautiously toward the others. She made sure to stand further back than Charlie and silently stared forward. For a moment no one said anything and then, oddly enough, Charlie broke the tension. "I found her out on the road, not a clue which way was up. She said she had been trying to find this place for quite a while. I guess she couldn't find the turnoff."

Esme nodded and gave the girl one of her nurturing smiles. "Don't worry, that happens with a lot of people." Which was a lie, seeing as there were only a select few who ever drove to the Cullen's house and they all knew how. "I'm Esme Cullen, is there something I can help you with?"  
For a second or two the girl only continued to stare and Seth wondered if they would have to call for Edward to get anything out of her. Then a dam broke and a flood of stuttering and sputtering poured out of her. She sounded like an old engine that not even Jake would be likely to salvage.  
The women exchanged a wary, but sympathetic look before ushering the girl into the house. Bella called a quick goodbye over her shoulder and Charlie came back to his seat.

He eyed Seth and asked, "Are you going to be alright? You're usually a lot more chipper than this."  
"Yeah, I'll be okay. I just feel a little funny." Seth explained, hoping that was enough of the truth to not count as a lie.  
"How about I take you back to the reservation, then? You probably shouldn't meet up with any friends while you're feeling under the weather." Charlie offered and Seth accepted the older man's judgement and his offer graciously.

Once was safely at home and waving the police chief's car off, Seth felt a crushing weight on his shoulders. Here, on the res, someone was on patrol. He was pretty sure it was Quil, but Paul might've already relieved him if more time had passed than Seth had realized. Either way, someone was in their wolf form, here. So close by. Soon enough it would be his own turn to take patrol and he would have to phase just as they did.

And then everyone would know.

* * *

Inside the Cullen house, the family members who had opted to stay home rather than hunt were doing their best to make their rather anxious visitor feel welcomed. Jasper made tea for everyone while Esme and Bella led the girl to sit in a wingback chair, the two women taking their own seats on a sofa opposite to her and Emmett did his best not to stare too intently at the as of yet silent girl. Bella had thought to ask if the girl was looking for Carlisle, as he was the most likely suspect, but the girl only stared at her with wide, deferential eyes. Her emotions were a jumbled mess that bounced around as though they were trapped inside a pinball machine, hitting most notably upon frustration, determination, futility and wonderment.

Emmett caught his brother smirking and whispered so that the human in the room would not hear, "What are you picking up on your little ham radio, over there?"  
Jasper hissed back without turning. "She's a complete mess, but she sure does like Bella."  
"So what, does Bells have a stalker on her hands?" Emmett chuckled quietly.  
"I don't know. She's like a lit fuse on a stick of dynamite." Jasper replied, finding the poor girl's distress shamefully amusing.

"I'm!" Their visitor suddenly shouted when Jasper came and handed her a cup of tea. The family waited patiently, but the girl sat with her mouth open, ready to say more, until finally she took a sip of tea, defeated.  
Emmett couldn't manage to keep his laughter quiet, at that point. He snickered loudly from his seat at the bar until Esme shot him a dark look that sent him heading out the back door without another word.

From the porch, the door shut solidly behind him, Emmett called Alice from his cell phone and hoped his sister might be able to clear the confusion up for them all. As soon as she answered Alice asked laughingly if Emmett had been kicked out and explained that she didn't have any information to give him. "That kid hasn't got any clue what she is about to do next. Every time she makes anything close to a decision, she chickens out and changes her mind. Honestly, it's giving me a headache."

And so, once again, no one expected it when the girl suddenly burst. "I'm Mckenna! I-I'm Mckenna Bristol!" She stuck her hand out roughly toward Bella and her tea cup tumbled down to crash on the floor. Mckenna gasped and bent hurriedly to rescue the thing, which was beyond saving. Jasper sighed at the flow of embarrassment and grief he gathered from the girl and moved to help her. he made her sit back down and picked up all of the little pieces, himself before collecting a dish towel from the kitchen to soak up the fluid.

"Well, hello Mckenna." Esme started and repeated her initial question. "Is there anything we can help you with?"  
Mckenna watched Jasper work with a tight frown. When he was finished, her eyes darted back to Bella before they finally found Esme and it seemed that she only then heard the question. Her expression softened and her mouth opened long before any words worked their way out of her.

"You eat animals." This was all she managed to get out, but her voice wrapped around it as though it were her favorite phrase in all the English language.

* * *

**My second fic. I'm excited about it and I hope it's well received. This one is much more straight forward than _Magic in the Name_ and I'm hoping that will keep my thoughts on track. Honestly, I'm having a bit of trouble staying on the rails with my other story since their are so many ways I could go with it. This one is almost exactly as it seems here.**

**I hope you all enjoy it and I would love to hear any comments, questions or concerns!**


	2. Weak, but Never Defeated

Leah sat in her kitchen, chewing a mouthful of cereal as slowly as she could manage because she wasn't really interested in eating. What seemed much more important to her than a bowl of cereal was her brother's strange, new attitude. He had come home the day before and sat for two hours on the front porch, unmoving. When their mother finally managed to coerce him inside, he slunk heavily to his room and had not since reemerged. It wasn't really all that weird for teenage boys to mope around the house or sleep for incredible lengths of time, but this was Seth. Seth was always so much more enthusiastic about life than this.

She finally stood, having had quite enough of it all, and stomped down the hall to beat her fist solidly against Seth's bedroom door. "Hey, get your scrawny butt up and moving! You've gotta be at school in twenty minutes."  
The soft groan of her little brother's bed creaking a he moved convinced Leah that she had gotten him revived and that he would definitely get himself ready, now. He had always been a bit afraid of her wrath and tended to avoid conflict with her over smaller issues. Knowing that she had agreed to meet with Jake before the older boy, too, had to head out to school, Leah grabbed up her car keys and called a quick goodbye to the boy in his room.

Seth listened as his sister's car engine came to life and her tires hissed over the gravel driveway. Leah might've thought she knew him so perfectly to a 't', but today she miscalculated. Today, Seth was exhausted. He had barely slept throughout the night, his mind torturing him with an unwelcomed ache. He ached for _Her_, for the girl he didn't even know, and that made him hate her. He hated that she had such control over him and there was nothing he could do about it. That was what all of the other guys had told him about their imprints; _there's nothing you can do_. Why did an imprint get so much control over a wolf when the wolf didn't even get to choose her? This girl was forcing herself upon him.  
It wasn't fair.

Stuffing his head beneath his pillow for the hundredth time, Seth bemoaned the idea of ever having to leave his bed again. He hoped he could stay, hoped his mother would bring him meals in bed and his sister would leave him completely, hoped the pack would forget him and go on without him. Then he hated her more. She had taken power enough to tear his life from him. No. No, that wasn't right. He was giving her that power.

Did it really matter? Either way, he was stuck on her leash and if he saw her again, he knew it would only reinforce this terrible longing he felt for her. She had hollowed him out in less than a day and no matter how he pushed, pulled or prodded the hole, he couldn't erase it. Not alone. Not without that wicked thief who carried his soul.

Eventually, he pulled himself up, and clambered out to the kitchen. His stomaching was howling at its lack of dinner from the night before. After a slice of toast, two bowls of cereal, an orange and an apple, the boy thought he might be feeling just slightly better. He considered dressing and going out to school, but one look at the clock changed his mind. He was already very late and there wasn't much of an excuse to give. He highly doubted his Geometry teacher would appreciate hearing his excuse. _I'm sorry, Mrs. Caulfield, I just committed my entire being to some girl from out of town and I'm struggling with some pretty powerful buyer's remorse._ The old woman never did like him and that didn't sound like it would help any.

Instead of bothering, Seth decided he would rather skip school for the day. The worst consequence he'd have of that would be a lecture from his family and it wouldn't be the first time for that. Leah liked to give lectures; it was one of her favorite pastimes.

Trying to figure out what to use his free time for, Seth considered the things he might've done if he were ditching for fun. He probably wouldn't have phased, the pack members who were old enough to not have the problem of school anymore thought it was important that he finish high school and would just send him there in the end. He could have tried to get some of his friend from the res or even Forks to play hooky with him, but he didn't really want to play around. He wanted to talk to someone who would know what he was talking about, but didn't have an imprint of their own. He wanted someone to listen and actually understand why he felt so apprehensive. That led to Option #3: the Cullens. They might chastise him, but no one would force him to go to school if he explained himself.

But could he risk it?  
He could go all the way out to their house, just to find that _She_ was still there. Then what would he do? Could he risk seeing her again, knowing what it could do to his already weak restraint?

He decided that he would go there and gauge whether or not the girl was at the house. If her stuck to the tree line at the edge of the clearing, he would likely be able to sniff her out even in his human form. If he smelt a human, he would leave; if not, he would try to meet up with Edward. He trusted the vampire to understand his feelings best since her could actually hear his thoughts.

* * *

Mckenna Bristol was not a morning person. She did not enjoy being woken up at the crack dawn by a sharp stream of sunlight crossing her eyes through a split in the blinds of her hotel room. She did not enjoy the bitter coffee she resigned herself to drink when she discovered that her hotel did not carry her favorite brand of sweetener. She definitely did enjoy the seventy-eight and one quarter minutes it took for her to shower, dry and style her hair, find an outfit suitable for the weather the news told her to expect, and delicately paint her face up with adequate makeup for public viewing. But none the less, she accepted it as necessary.

Once she felt that she was passably readied for the day, she stepped out of her room, sucked in a deep breath and piled into her car. The worn leather of the wheel felt good beneath her hands, comfortable and responsive. It made her feel as though she might just be able to assuage the intensely ethereal immortal beings she was preparing to meet with once again as easily as her fingers pressed their reliefs into this steering wheel. She reminded herself as she drove to thank its owner when she returned it.

Before she could make her way over to the masterwork house, hidden away like the little treasure it was, Mckenna deemed one or two pit stops essential. Hoping all of the people of Forks were as helpful as Chief Swan, she pulled into the lot of an open diner. She ordered a blueberry muffin to go, knowing that a paying customer is always less annoying than a penniless wanderer, and when the cashier returned with her food in a neat white box, she set about her question. "Thank you. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a hiking store…or outdoor…something-or-other?" She asked, feeling more and more foolish as the words continued.  
The woman smiled one of those tight-lipped smiles that made Mckenna certain she would be laughing about this later. "You're in right place for that, Sweetheart." She pointed out the restaurant's façade and directed the girl to a store two blocks down called Newton's. Easy enough.

Newton's turned out to be something of an outdoor emporium, which Mckenna figured would be just about perfect for her needs. She grabbed up her tote and headed in, straight to the boy at the front counter. He smiled appreciatively as she leaned against the counter and greeted him. "Hi. What are you looking for?" He asked in that silly voice Mckenna was used to hearing from men; it was as though he was really hoping she was in there just to look at him.  
Mckenna grinned and pulled her ruined flip flop from her bag, hard crusted with mud. The boy's brows shot up and he choked back some laughter. "I think I need some boots." She told him matter-of-factly. The boy made his way to her side of the counter and began to lead her to one wall of the store which was lined with shelf after shelf of shoes. She felt she could safely say that there wasn't a single one she could find in River Island or Krisp.

The boy eyed her mildly disappointed expression and smiled. "You know, boots are almost always more expensive, so I shouldn't be saying anything, but you'd probably do just fine with a good pair of sneakers."  
Mckenna was glad to see that he was the type who liked to cheer others up and on. That was nice, a rare sighting of a dying breed. "Well, if anyone asks I came for these in the first place." She laughed as she selected and examined of semi-attractive, black and white running shoes. She chatted with the boy as he found the shoes in her size and rang them up for her. His name was Mike. His parents owned the store. He was had come home from college for the summer and was helping out. He envied her for being able to just pick up and go and didn't seem to question her motives or her legality. Every word he said and every movement he made screamed 'GOOD BOY! SINGLE! INTERESTED!' He was a nice guy.

She fumbled about in the bug's tiny driver's seat, replacing her original, embroidered trainers – the second warmest footwear in her wardrobe before this latest purchase – for her new, function-friendly pair. Once she had them on and laced up snuggly, she pulled out of the parking lot and tried to remember exactly the path Chief Swan had shown her the day before. As she drove, she recollected the whole experience of coming face-to-face with the coven.

It had been gut-wrenching. Just getting out of the car had taken something out of her when two terribly stunning women appeared to greet the chief of police. When she came up behind him and the younger of the two women called him 'dad', Mckenna's stomach did a risky backflip. A female vampire with a still human father. She should have put the pieces together long before that moment; as soon as he introduced himself with the name Swan. She felt a wave of awe to simply be standing in the presence of these people. It was very real in that instant, real as it hadn't been throughout the duration of her journey. She was only a little terrified.

Chief Swan did his best to introduce her, despite not knowing her name, and the older woman tried to speak to her, but it was no use. Her brain had already begun the task of self-destruction in its usual hurricane-esque fashion. Mckenna pulled herself together well enough to follow her hosts into the house and obey their suggestion of sitting in a comfortable chair. The silence must have been deafening, but it was lost on her ears. These people, the two women and the additional twosome of men who lingered in the background, were as perfect as she had expected and even better. From each of their flawless faces, there really were two sharp, grasping, golden eyes stared her down. It seemed impossible that Mckenna's enduring misfortune would take such a drastic turn for the better just by her voyaging to the west coast. Like a fortune teller and their cards, the Cullens were turning her world over end.

When she built up enough courage to introduce herself, her thoughts caught for half a second on the consequences of her actions if they turned out to be wrong. Her voice caught in her throat and all she could do was sip the tea she had graciously been given.

She would not get off lightly. Everyone would be furious. They must already be raging and tearing apart her poor cousin's house, thinking they might find some clue as to where Mckenna had disappeared to…again. But she had been careful. She hadn't left anything she thought might lead them to her. She had planned this in secret for so long. And now she was here! Now she was sitting in the living room of the famous Cullens!  
She had to convince herself once again that she was right for this. This was the only thing to be done. She had to see them. She had to talk to this Bella. She'd be safe. She would definitely be safe. Bella would help her. She _had_ to.

"Hello, Mckenna." Esme's gentle voice called from the porch as the girl stepped out of her car. "Back again?"  
"Hi, Mrs. Cullen. Can I talk with Bella?" Mckenna called back, having mustered all of her courage during the drive.  
The older woman smiled back and nodded. "Certainly. I'm glad to see you've found your voice."

* * *

**So, there it is. Mckenna's a runaway - and it isn't her first offense! She came the the west coast just to talk to Bella, knowing that she was walking into a town full of vampires. And Seth, poor kid, seems to be walking straight into his worst nightmare, doesn't he?  
What'll come of this unlikely pair? Read on and find out!**

**As always, I'd love some R&R**


	3. Take Every Chance

When Esme led Mckenna through the house and out to the backyard, she found a young girl using a tiny woman's arms as a swing set. She wondered if this was _the_ girl, but shook her head of the distraction. Just past the pair, Bella was sitting at an outdoor table along with the two men Mckenna had seen the day before, another man and the most stunning beauty yet. A familiar inadequacy creeping through her spine, Mckenna stepped up to the table and greeted her initial target.

"Mckenna was hoping to speak with you, Bella." Esme explained in the girl's stead.  
"Oh." Bella chimed, warily. She picked up on the sense intention for privacy, stood and kissed the man who had been seated beside her on the cheek. "I'll be back in a bit. Don't let Alice tear her arms off." She joked with a glance to the child. So that answered one question.

Bella walked with Mckenna back inside the house to a seemingly safe distance, though Mckenna was certain the others would hear their every word. The two women sat down at the kitchen bar and squared off. Regretting yesterday's silence, Mckenna started immediately. "I'm sorry about my last visit. That must have been uncomfortable, but I was just so excited to have finally met you."  
"'Finally met me'? Why were you wanting to meet me?" Bella asked, a quiet tension slipping into her voice.  
"Your sort of the talk of the t- well, no, the world. Yeah, the world." Mckenna laughed as she considered exactly how far the rumors had certainly spread. They had reached her half a world away and in the middle of nowhere, surely everyone knew.  
Bella watched her nervously. She crossed her legs and Mckenna knew the gesture had nothing to do with comfort. "What sort of talk?"  
"Your story. Sort of." The girl grumbled, feeling that she had probably chosen the wrong way to explain herself. "Everyone talks about your mate falling for you as a human, and then when you changed the two of you adopted and changed a little kid."  
"That's not true." Bella growled.

Mckenna was up from her seat and three steps away from the other woman, quick as a spider. Before she ever knew vampires existed, she had learned to deal with humans and violent anger. She eyed the brunette until she saw her eyes settle and a hint of apology show on her face. Once she felt safe enough to return to the stool, Mckenna decided she would need to clarify the impressions she had given. "I'm sorry, I didn't come here looking to offend you. I've truly got a lot of respect for both you and your mate. That's why I was hoping to get some insight from you."  
"What do you mean?"  
Mckenna took a deep breath and judged the many words which rushed to the forefront of her mind. She nodded and chewed her lip as she weighed her options. "I was wondering what you thought of being a vampire."

Bella took a moment to absorb the question she turned away from the girl for a moment, concerned and confused for her curiosity. It was odd that this girl knew so much about her, but she obviously had some type of connection to vampires, or she wouldn't have known anything at all. The night before, after the family members who had been out hunting returned and Renesmee was put to bed, they had all discussed this girl. Jasper was certain she didn't mean them any harm and Alice hadn't seen any threat in her future. The possibility that she was an envoy from another vampire, or even a coven, had been mentioned. So had the possibility whatever vampire had given her the information she had, could end up coming after her.

"I love being a vampire." Bella said, knowing she needed to be careful, but wanting to honest. "I've got the love of my life and I get to keep him forever …and such a great family, too. We don't feed on humans, so I get to keep in contact with all of my human friends. I've got my husband and our daughter. Ever since I was changed, I've thought that this was what I was born for."  
"Incredible."

It was quiet for a moment again before Mckenna broke out with another exclamation. "My boyfriend wants to change me."  
Bella stared at her, dumbfounded. "What?"  
"I met him a while back and – well, you know, they're amazing…vampires, I mean – we hit off, started dating. He acted really weird and took off out of nowhere a lot. Shit pissed me off. Oh, excuse my language! Really, sorry. Anyway, he finally told me what he was and he asked me if I wanted to become a vampire and stay with him. Didn't know when I had entered the Twilight Zone, but I told him I had to think about it. He keeps pressing for an answer."  
Bella was amazed that there was another couple so much like her and Edward. She had thought that they were one of a kind, though it occurred to her then that it was likely that one or two of the couples who had resulted in the other hybrids they'd met over the past year were similar. This girl and her boyfriend seemed to almost be a reverse of her and Edward; one pushing for the change, the other reluctant to give in. She wondered what Edward might tell her. "Are you willing to accept that, in all likelihood, you're going to have to give up the life you've known so far?"  
The girl smiled at her with a lack of mirth, and her grey eyes looked at a scene completely other than what was in front of her, "I can't say that's too much of a worry." She droned and her voice was dry and coarse as though it hadn't been used in many years. "I'm not worried about the past, so much as the future I would be giving up. I won't get to do any of the typical human girl things. No college. No drinking party on my twenty-first. No wedding. No babies. No crow's feet. No Alzheimer's or arthritis. Just a forever of sameness."  
Bella frowned as she pondered the girl's reasoning. She had been perfectly happy facing a forever of sameness. It didn't really seem to be anything to call into question in her mind. "Well, do you love him?"  
"Of course, I do." Mckenna barked loudly, offended that the other woman had the nerve to disbelieve her feelings. "Ewan means more to me than anything! He's the greatest…He…He…I've never had anyone so…

"I have to go." Gathering herself and plunging into a storm of her own emotions, Mckenna marched away from the one and only person she had come thousands of miles and risked the ire of terrible forces to see. She climbed into the borrowed bug, clenched the supple leather, spun the car around and stamped her foot down on the pedal. She could not have gotten out of that clearing quick enough.

* * *

Seth had to run through the woods to get to the Cullens' since Leah had taken the second car and he still didn't have the courage to phase. All it would take, if this imprint was real, was a split second as a wolf and the whole pack would know. And if it wasn't a real imprint, he would still rather find that out on his own than have the other guys mock him for the confusion. Since he was slower in his human form, even at top speed, it took a bit to reach the house. He came up on the side and slowed to loiter at the very edge of the forest. In the backyard, he spotted most of the family and knew he'd only have a second or two before they'd either sense him or sniff him out; he'd have to make a quick figuring to decide whether or not it was safe.

"What're you doing out here, kid?"

The boy turned to see Emmett coming up to him from somewhere in the woods. He must've been creeping along on tip toes for Seth to have not heard him and now he was eyeing the kid as though he had giant rabbit ears sprouting from his head. Seth quickly decided that he would have to go out without a guarantee that he wouldn't meet the girl. It would be too strange to excuse if he insisted on hanging around in the trees.

"I just thought I'd play hooky today and I wasn't sure if Esme and Carlisle would send me back." Seth told the man with a shrug.  
Emmett roared with his unique brand of thunderous laughter. "That's great! But the real wet blanket you've got to look out for is Edward. The guy has his priorities too straight." He teased as the pair walked out into the clearing, then his voice got a little quieter and a little more serious. "Jasper was worried because he thought you were having some sort of panic attack."  
Seth squeezed his fists tight, where he hoped his companion wouldn't notice. "No worries. I've just never done this since I was a little kid."

Emmett dragged him out toward the table where most of the family was seated. Alice was playing with Renesmee, Rosalie and Esme were talking quietly to each other while Jasper and Edward seemed lost in their own thoughts. Seth wondered if it was something important, but didn't feel up to pestering for answers. When they got closer and Emmett fell into his seat beside his wife, and the boy was left with nothing but his own reason for coming out to see the Cullens, Edward snapped quickly away from his deliberation. He stared at Seth with wide, staggered eyes and the kid knew that he'd been heard.

With an easy glance around the table and one more back to the house, where Seth spotted Bella somberly shutting the back door behind her, Edward stood and motioned the boy to follow. They walked off toward the front of the house and the tunnel to the outside world, far from the sensitive ears of the family. The vampire leaned in and softly spoke. "Seth, are you sure?"  
He didn't need to clarify. "Not really. I mean…I don't feel too great like the guys all say I should. And I don't understand how she could be so important, when I don't have anything to do with her." He rambled off the same things he had been telling himself in his denial of the girl. Somehow none of it really sounded like a solid argument outside of his head.  
Edward put a comforting hand over his shoulder and kept his voice low. "I don't think she's going anywhere for a while." He chose to omit what he had heard the girl say about her boyfriend, preferring to not let the confused boy in on any more complications for the moment. "If you feel like it even might be, then you should go and see her. Talk to her. Don't you think you'll know if you do?"

That made sense. He wasn't completely thrilled about the idea of interacting with the girl and he hoped with every fiber of his known being that he would prove himself wrong. But talking to her would be the only simple way to solve his problem. He would have to face her.

He looked up to find Edward nodding to himself, his gaze distant. He figured he must be disturbing the family during some sort of moment of seriousness and excused himself. He asked Edward to tell the others he said goodbye and to tell Emmett that he was heading out to a friend's place for the day. They parted ways and the boy ran out the tunnel and along the road, thinking that he might look for the girl's very recognizable car at one of the few hotels in the area. He almost tripped over his own feet when he sputtered to a stop.

To his surprise, the little blue and white bug was perched on the side of the road just where the forest receded to allow for a miniature glen. He approached warily and found the car abandoned. The keys were still hanging from the ignition and the driver's window was rolled down. Apparently, she had no notion of the dangers of the world, whoever and wherever she was.  
A muffled groan and the stirring of grass alerted Seth to a presence behind him. There, looking crumpled where she lay in an ungainly fetal position, one arm thrown over her face and the other reaching around the peak of her knees to grip her ankle, was the problematic girl, herself. Stepping as cautiously as he could manage toward her, Seth approached. He felt a rather terrible pang in his chest that demanded he get closer and closer.

"Are you alright?" He asked when he was standing almost on top of her.  
She groaned and angled herself further away from him. "Yeah, I just fell and thought I might stay her and let the gravity crush me."  
Despite himself, he chuckled a bit at that. Who tells a perfect stranger something so strange?

* * *

**And finally they meet! But Mckenna's got a boyfriend. A vampire boyfriend... Seth can't catch a break.  
R&R please.**


End file.
